“Do you smell what The Rock is cooking?”
You know the line as well as anyone nowadays, even if you weren’t a wrestling fan.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (movie star, part-time professional wrestler, full-time icon) and his partner Hollywood mogul Dany Garcia are unleashing their latest dream and spoke with Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Curt Menefee of the FOX NFL Sunday crew prior to Super Bowl LVIII earlier this month.
It’s been 30 years between starting and stopping the idea of spring football with more than a handful of acronyms in a country that loves its football. I kid you not. Different versions of the XFL and USFL merged this winter into the United Football League, enough to excite a sober fellow on any street at any time of the day or night.
So there. This UFL opens training camp Saturday in Arlington, Texas. Its eight teams will play a 10-week schedule with no bye weeks that kicks off on Saturday, March 30.
This newest (and hopefully best) version of a spring league offers a combination of strong financial backing, multiple national broadcast partners and a blend of previous templates, a solid-as-a-rock (yes, intended) foundation that its forefathers didn’t possess. Those are the differences between this and all previous attempts of playing professional football in the spring.
Headquartered in Arlington, the eight teams will practice at surrounding facilities throughout training camp and the regular season before traveling to their home markets for games, like the XFL did in 2023.
“It’s about unleashing dreams,” Garcia said when questioned by the FOX NFL crew.
“It’s a new endeavor and “we” believe in it,” Johnson nodded, adding, “It’s about players grabbing an opportunity. Let me tell ya’, I was the 54th player back in the day. Look around, there are a lot of 54th players still out there. It’s hard-nosed, passionate, and intense where every play matters.”
And, yes, it could be a stepping stone to the National Football League, but not necessarily.
The league will be divided into two conferences: the USFL and the XFL. Making up the USFL will be the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Roughnecks, Memphis Showboats and Michigan Panthers. The XFL includes the Arlington Renegades, D.C. Defenders, San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks.
A one focused league is the right thing for spring football like his UFL brethren Garcia and Johnson pointed out, UFL CEO/President Russ Brandon believes. Brandon is a longtime NFL executive with the Buffalo Bills. He will be joined in the front office by former USFL front office chief and former Dallas Cowboy Daryl Johnston, as the executive vice president of football operations.
From reports the league should be much more talented with more depth at critical positions. Johnston verified that, saying, “We’re taking eight teams (from the USFL) and eight (from the XFL) and combining into eight, the best of the players and the best of the coaches into our (UFL) family.”
You should be familiar with some of the coaches Skip Holtz (the son of Lou Holtz) at Birmingham, Bob Stoops (the longtime coach at the University of Oklahoma) in Arlington, and Wade Phillips (former coach of the Cowboys and the son of Bum Phillips, former coach of the Houston Oilers) at San Antonio.
Like the NFL, games will be played at noon and 3 p.m. (CT), and televised on FOX, ESPN, ABC and FS1.
The inaugural regular season kicks off Saturday, March 30, with 2023 XFL champion Arlington hosting two-time USFL champ Birmingham at noon on big FOX. The 3 p.m. game following is St, Louis at Michigan. A day later, (on Easter Sunday) San Antonio entertains D.C. at noon, followed by Memphis at Houston, both games airing on ESPN.
The 10-game regular season will be followed by conference championship games on Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9 with the best two teams in each conference playing for the right to play for the inaugural UFL Championship a week later on Sunday, June 16, at a site and time to be announced and broadcast by FOX.
And we’re proud to bring you coverage of those games right here on thefootballbeat.com.
It’s got my attention and if you believe what The Rock says… it should have yours.
Follow Joe on X (formerly Twitter): joeyballgame.jh@gmail.com
